As previously mentioned in an earlier post my first job was working at Wakefield's Army Stores on Westgate in Mansfield. I started as a junior and among the many jobs I had to do was sort through bags of used army boots, matching them into pairs and then polishing them ready to be sold. Also at stock taking I remember having to count shoe-laces and tins of ex-army dubbin. Another job was to un-pick ex-army string vests, to make balls of string. We could double the profit by doing this, two balls of string sold for more than one vest! 

Not only did I work with my friend Mark's mum, but a really great bunch of ladies and our very camp manager Mr. Crookes. He was the first openly gay man that I had ever known (what a sheltered life we led back then). He was a great man who had a tremendous sense of humour and would try to make various members of staff laugh while serving unsuspecting customers by popping up from behind the counter opposite, usually wearing some daft hat or other. Also the first Christmas working there I was treated to lots of leg pulling by the ladies and at lunch time on Christmas Eve large amounts of lager.  I remember that at one point during the afternoon Mr. Crookes singing and dancing on the stairs to the upper floor "I'll build a stairway to paradise" from "American in Paris"

This was also the day that Mark's mum and dad deposited me on my doorstep and after knocking on the door quickly drove away laughing. Let's just say mum & dad were not best pleased !!

After working at the Westgate branch, I spent sometime at the depot on Kirkby Folly Road in Sutton helping sort out the Ex-Government supplies store, which was basically a large barn stacked floor to ceiling with boxes, bales and crates of all kinds of wonderful items. Everything from bars of soap to huge size 24 commando boots. These would have fit Herman Munster no problem and not many others. Also ex RAF plimsolls also in extreme sizes. Metal shaving mirrors, sewing kits and Ex-Canadian Army signal tents.

After this I did a spell helping the window dresser Mr. Brookes who was a huge Shirley Bassey fan and took his portable tape player and a selection of Shirley tapes wherever we went. This along with the fact he was pretty much a chain smoker led to some interesting incidents. Let's just say it was always a good idea to have a fire extinguisher near by.

It was not long before I started doing relief management at local branches, covering holidays and sickness. I have fond memories of working at Sutton in the Idelwells shop and the tiny store at Kirkby. Whilst at Kirkby I spent most of my time and a good amount of my money at Norman Daines shop just down the road. A strange little shop that sold most things, they always had a good record selection and it made up for not getting into Syd Booths. All this time we kept doing the discos in Bilsthorpe and I was building up a bloody great collection of singles. So much so that most weeks I could say I had pretty much all of that weeks top 40 singles.

Eventually I was offered a promotion as manager of the Newark branch and it was time to say goodbye to Mansfield. Looking back this was one of the best moves I made. More of which will follow.

But let's have a few tunes from those days at Mansfield.